Horikoshi, the creator of My Hero Academia, has had a rough draw with part of the western audience. Specifically the woke crowd.

There’s been multiple incidents where said woke crowd has demanded Horikoshi apologize, sometimes even demand him to quit, and others want him to take his life.

Some of the reasons why are because of the manga’s Endeavor arc, giving him somewhat redemption. Or for “overly sexualizing” female characters.

If you’re out of the loop on those situations, here is some coverage if you’re so inclined, and then we’ll move into today’s report;

So today’s report.

A new hashtag is created; ” #APOLOGIZE_HORIKOSHI ”

Why?

Because of the name revealed for All For One’s Doctor, Shiga Maruta.

“Maruta” ( Kanji; 丸太 ) has ties to Japan’s infamous Unit 731.

If you don’t know what Unit 731 was involved with in World War 2, to put it simply; some of the most inhumane experiments on humans to date. Biochemical experimentation, live vivisection, and other such atrocities. Some of the experiments seemingly also without any scientific merit, with the purpose of making the subject’s life miserable.

Terrible stuff for sure.

However, is Horikoshi advocating for Unit 731 by having All For One’s Doctor named “Shiga Maruta”? No, I don’t believe that’s the case at all.

For one, the Doctor is a villain and is working for All For One, arguably the “main villain” of the series.

Horikoshi’s statement;

“Many have heard that the name Shiga Maruta, which appeared in the jump this week, is reminiscent of historical events. I didn’t mean that in the naming. We take your comments very seriously and will replace your name in the future.”

Also, I doubt (most if not all of ) the people complaining were doing anything to bring awareness to Unit 731 before it became trendy to talk about it today… On Twitter…

There’s also another interesting explanation provided by user @maybeitfriendly

And here’s some more examples of the outrage going on for this situation;

Finally, it seems Shonen Jump has issued a statement on this situation;

9 Response Comments

Outrage дебилы strike again, jumping down the throats of anyone who does something even remotely offensive, just like the чертовски комми суки that those things are.

Seiichi MorimuraFebruary 4, 2020 at 2:59 am

The word “Maruta” is irrelevant to historical facts.
It was first appeared in a serial novel called “Akuma no Hoshoku” published in the Japanese Communist Party’s official newspaper “Akahata” and there are no support documents.
Koreans cannot distinguish between historical fact and fiction due to the government’s anti-Japanese education.

Stephen Moran-DavisFebruary 4, 2020 at 5:48 pm

Stuff like this nearly ruined RWBY for me, now it’s hitting MHA.
Depressing.

AnimeFan01February 5, 2020 at 10:21 am

Smh, yare yare daze.

The “woke” people need to get off their high horse soapboxes and drink a nice healthy cup of reality, sorry not sorry “woke” people, but no one is gonna bend when you say bend. And you’re not “woke” you’re a pain in the rear.

The name is just a name, I’m at least a billion percent sure the creator didn’t mean anything by it, but you’d rather sit there and complain and harass instead of getting the whole story, so you’re no better than anybody else who acts on impulse.

It’s good you listen to your emotions, but also use your head and think before jumping to conclusions.

Homerman76February 5, 2020 at 5:26 pm

You know, the funny irony here is that naming the villain doctor that does horrible experiments on people for the sake of “advancement” after a major name of a horrible event is actually a really good way of condemning the inhumane treatment of the people who suffered from this event. So sad that people are more obsessed with recognition and/or burying the past by condemning references to it (whether intentional or not,) than to observe the context of a situation and to see things for what they really are.

SmithsaFebruary 10, 2020 at 8:29 am

Honestly, even if it’s a mistake. Why can’t they just forgive him? They even have to make such a big fuss and draw more awareness to let their “grievances” reach the actual victims. So who are the ones actually digging up bad history?

Those who don’t even heard about it has to go Google it, and yet what do they all expect us to do? Just hiding behind a screen and rising on the waves of the crowd. What a nice example of bandwagon fallacy.

JustsomerandomguyApril 9, 2020 at 7:03 pm

Try imagining Germany making fun of the people they heartlessly murdered in the holocaust.